Other Counties Debate Who Should Run Jails

In Panama City, the war over who will control the Bay County Jail is over, but a battle of words continues.

In two weeks, Bay County Sheriff Lavelle Pitts reluctantly will hand the county jail`s keys to a private firm that will report directly to the County Commission.

``From a sheriff`s point of view, it`s the best thing that could happen,`` said Pitts, who has been sheriff for five years. ``From the public`s point of view, it`s the worst thing that could happen.``

As early as today, Palm Beach County commissioners may find themselves debating many of the same choices that Bay County officials faced when they searched for solutions to problems plaguing their jail.

``We have got to be one of the worst-run jails in the state of Florida,`` said Bay County Commissioner John Hutt Jr., a leader in the movement to remove administration of the jail from Pitts` responsibilities.

Hutt said the change will save money. Pitts said, ``I think its the biggest rip-off from the taxpayers I`ve ever seen.``

In Bay County, as in Palm Beach County, questions about who should operate the county jail surfaced after the death of an inmate.

Hutt said an inmate died as the result of complications from a year-old injury suffered in a knife fight. The inmate was diagnosed by jail officials, according to Hutt, as having the flu.

Friday, a Palm Beach County grand jury, investigating the June 19 death of inmate Mario Abraham, recommended that the sheriff`s office no longer run the jail.

Sheriff Richard Wille said Monday that he is opposed to giving up control unless he can be persuaded that there is a better alternative.

``If there`s a jail anywhere in the nation operating under the adverse conditions that we are -- such as overcrowding, lack of space. . . . If you can show me that that facility doesn`t have suicides, escapes and deaths, I`d be very happy to look into that system and would adopt it wholeheartedly,`` he said.

Florida sheriffs, on the whole, have been opposed to surrendering control of jails, according to Alachua County Sheriff L. J. Hindery. In 1973, control of the county`s jail moved from the sheriff`s office to the Department of Corrections, which reports to the County Commission.

Hindery said the move to have the county take over the jail came as the result of a joint agreement involving commissioners and then-Sheriff J.M. Carvasse.

``It was a death in the jail (a hanging) that might have influenced his opinion,`` he said.

Although Hindery acknowledges that the Alachua County Jail has been running smoothly in recent years, he said he still is opposed to having county commissions be responsible for jail operations.

One of the problems, he said, is the loss of criminal intelligence gathered from inside the jail.

Financing also is a problem.

``When the county runs something, it is their baby, and they look after their baby better than they look after mine,`` he said, adding that the jail budget increased dramatically after the county took it over.``

Not all sheriffs want to maintain control of jails.

In Orlando, Orange County Sheriff Lawson Lamar recently said he favors county commissioners taking over the jail and the headaches and lawsuits that come with it.

``Quite frankly, the only reason sheriffs still have jails is historical,`` he recently told the Orlando Sentinel ``In 1860, it made sense for the sheriff to have the jail key in his pocket.

``It`s a very large administrative load for me,`` he said. ``My managerial time is much more aptly spent on the law enforcement.``

For jail administrators, the sheriff`s financial loss is their gain, according to Tom Allison, who is acting director of corrections at the Gainesville jail.

``You have a direct conduit to a wider political base,`` he said. ``The wider the political base the more response you get. Once again, you get more money.``

Allison said he has seen jails operated under both systems and favors having it separated from the sheriff`s office.